Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts

08 May 2008

Furry Caterpillar Invasion/Invación de Gusanos Peludos

Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too. Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too.


Desde hace unas semanas he notado esto en muchos de los árboles de la zona. Lo llamo casa de orugas porque decenas, si no cientas de ellas viven dentro. La cuestión es que hay varias de estas “casas” en los árboles que estan cerca de mi balcón. Aunque no me molesta compartir el planeta con las orugas y otros insectos, no me gusta para nada la idea de que entren por la puerta del balcón y decidan compartir mi apartamento.

17 January 2008

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It snowed all morning. Only three inches fell, but it was enough to transform the drab winter landscape beautifully. It’s slightly amusing (and irritating) how the people in this area react whenever there is snow in the weather forecast. Yesterday, when the meteorologists predicted yesterday that 2-4 inches of snow were expected to fall, half the people ran out, mobbed the supermarkets and bought up all the bread, milk, bottled water, et cetera. One would think that the blizzard of the century had been predicted. They act as if 2-4 inches is going to keep them housebound for days. And even if we had a substantial storm coming, does this mean that nobody had basic staples in their refrigerators and cupboards to hold them of a couple days? Man.

Some time during tonight’s rehearsal with the Let Freedom Ring Choir at Metropolitan Baptist Church, I saw a fur coat walk in. When it unwrapped its owner I realized that it was our soloist, opera singer Denyce Graves. To his credit, our choir director did not act like a fluttery sycophant the way some of the others did. We (the choir and Denyce, that is) practiced together and sounded great. Since there was a lot of down time in certain parts of the rehearsal, I had my knitting. I was a bit nervous that the director would tell me to put it away, but he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t say anything ‘cause he didn’t know my name or maybe because I never took my eyes off his face while we were singing (it was plain stockinette). Whatever the reason, I got half a sleeve done!

05 January 2008

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!



I read somewhere that in Russia it is considered good luck for snow to fall on New Year’s Day. Well, if Michigan were Russia, it would be one very lucky state. Did I mention that it snowed every single one of the five days I was there? And would you believe that I was tromping around in this stuff without boots? It was quite pretty and reminded me of my years in New England. It also reminded me of why I moved away. Brr!

It appears that one of Duquesa’s New Year’s resolutions is to be more cooperative, as evidenced by her willingness to sit still for a little photo shoot (which I’ve been trying to get her to do since November). Or perhaps she has decided to be on her best behaviour lest I abandon her for another five days. Who knows what thoughts run through a cat’s mind.

13 December 2007

Árboles en niebla


12 December 2007

What’s in a name?


I really wanted to name this blog “The opinionated knitter” because, well, that's what I am, but I was afraid that a horde of hardcore Elizabeth Zimmerman devotees would accuse me of sacrilege and show up in the night waving bludgeon clubs and burning torches.

How did I decide on La Guaria del Bosque? Well, I am originally from Costa Rica, where the national flower is the Guaria Morada, an orchid which grows in great abundance all over Central America (there are approximately 1,400 orchid species in Costa Rica alone). I now live in the Washington, DC area. Outside my balcony there is about half an acre of trees that look like a little forest. I absolutely adore my balcony view. And so, I like to think of myself as an orchid of the forest, thus La Guaria del Bosque. [Photo by Oscar Chacón.]


By the way, if you have any questions, requests, advice, complaints, compliments, please leave a comment.
Español - También me pueden dejar comentarios en español.
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Italiano - Capisco l'italiano, ma non lo parlo bene.

When I lived in Connecticut I used to be on the local board of directors for Hostelling International. One of my fellow board members was a German woman who learned how to drive after she moved to the United States, therefore, despite being a fluent speaker of German, she only knew the parts of the car engine in English. Likewise, since I learned how to knit in the U.S., my knitting terminology is mostly limited to English. I hope you’ll understand.